Most Contagious 2009

What with all this festive stuff going on I'm still thinking about some predictions for 2010. So in the meantime here's Contagious's review of everything we need to know about what was great in advertising in 2009
Most Contagious 2009

The iPhone app for running....an iPhone

Want to run a virtual iPhone on your iPhone? There's an app for that. No, really.

Aside from complete meta-awesomeness, I'm not sure what purpose it serves. But then meta-awesomeness should be reason enough for something to exist. It exists because it can. (and because then iPhone fans like me will link to it.....)

Nice work Ogmento and Orange Israel

Happy Xmas

Image used with thanks

So I've been a bit busy starting a new job, and I've been neglecting this blog for the last few weeks. I'll be back in 2010 (and might even make up a few 2010 predictions before then). In the meantime, thanks for reading, extra thanks for commenting, and see you in the pub. Happy Xmas

What he said...

Google Goggles Visual Search video intro

I've got very little info on this other than the video below and Google's post about it, but from the looks of the video this has the potential to cut out the need for QR codes or barcode scanners - simply take a photo and visual search will do the rest. (or for businesses don't even take a photo: hold your camera up and GPS/compasses will do the rest. So may be Google are going to cut the middleman out of the AR hype surrounding mobile in 2010 too)

UK Retailers plugging into Foursquare

In one of those rare moments that I actually remembered to log in to Foursquare I spotted this Major offerSpecial offers for regular customers is not exactly a big idea, but this is not just a loyalty card, it's a loyalty ad. That advertises the business AND contributes to the overall game of Foursquare.

This is pretty well established in New York where Foursquare has been live for a while, but there is a lot of potential for smart small businesses to join in. According to the Businesses section of the Foursquare site, so far the list in the UK looks like this:

+ Bea's of Bloomsbury (London, UK)
+ Dose Espresso (London, UK)
+ Hummus Bros - Holborn (Camden Town, Greater London)
+ Hummus Bros. (London, UK)
+ Kaffeine (London, UK)
+ Paul A Young Fine Chocolates - Bank (London, UK)
+ Paul A Young Fine Chocolates - Islington (London, UK)
+ Pumphreys Coffee (Blaydon on Tyne, Tyne and Wear)

But I think it will grow rapidly over the next couple of months

MOG: musical love child of Spotify and Last FM

Or that's what this intro video suggests. According to TechCrunch this launches on the 2nd Dec in the US.


Mog appears to have all the social discovery and customisable radio bits of Last FM but with Spotify style streaming added in. All for $5 per month. I'm currently ok with a mix of iTunes, Spotify and Last FM, each covering the bits of 'listening to music' that they are individually good at. There's no mention of mobile yet, on the MOG site, but I reckon if there was an app for that then I'd pay for one service that can do everything.

(although the price is a clue that I might not be able to: Mog's opportunity is that Spotify STILL isn't live in the US. While this great for Mog, music industry hobbling of any sort of international streaming standards means that we probably won't see this in the UK for ages)

Moving on....

(Photo used with thanks)

So I am waving goodbye to Zed Media at the end of next week, and will be doing something new and very exciting from the week after that.